Florence Nears Landfall, Storm Surge Begins [VIDEO]

The Weather Channel reports:



Hurricane Florence is spreading heavy rain and strong winds into the Carolinas, with landfall possible either overnight tonight or on Friday, kicking off an agonizing crawl through the Southeast into early next week, producing catastrophic inland rainfall flooding, life-threatening storm surge and destructive winds.

As of late Thursday afternoon, Florence’s eye was located about 100 miles east-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, crawling west-northwestward at just 5 mph. Outer rainbands are pushing ashore in eastern North Carolina, only the beginning of what could be a record-wet siege from a tropical cyclone in parts of the Tar Heel State.

A destructive storm surge will accompany the eye coming ashore sometime from tonight into Friday, and coastal flooding may persist through multiple high-tide cycles into this weekend east of the center of Florence.  Significant beach erosion is also likely on the southeastern U.S. coast.